Should I or Shouldn't I?

[Guest]

So I'm sure there are tons of posts on this topic - should I or shouldn't I open a daycare? I feel somewhat different than other posts I have read. I do not have children and am not considering this due to wanting to be with my kids. I have a Master degree and work a professional job where I make a good living, but I am unfulfilled. Still, I feel like going for it would be such a huge risk.

I worked as a full-time nanny for four years throughout college and I loved it. In fact, I don't think I realized how much I loved it until I left it. I've worked in the corporate world for three years no and really do miss my kids so much. I also know that I am only remembering the good things though - I'm idealizing it and forgetting about those hard days, how physically demanding it is. Still, now I hate my job every day and that wasn't the case when I worked with kids. I got to spend time outside and build real relationships. I knew I was doing something good.

I have a solid business background and am confident with that side of things, but still, I am single and this would not be "extra income" while I stay home with my own. A few questions:

1.) When you started, how long did it take you once you started to get to a close to full or full "house"?
2.) How long does it usually take you to fill an open spot?
3.) Has anyone started an in home daycare that became so successful they were able to employer others and eventually expand in to a location outside of the home?
4.) How do you set yourself apart from others in the area?
5.) Is it really all about having the lowest/competitive prices or will people pay more for what they want (e.g. serving organic, food allergen free meals, montessori, ect.)?

I really appreciate all of the advise!
3.)

[ksmith]

I like you, didn't realize how much I loved home daycare until I left it. Where I currently live I can't do home daycare anyways, but I am planning to re-open once we move. How long it takes you to fill a spot really is going to depend on your area, how many home daycares there are, and how many daycare facilities there are. I noticed for me it would be a cycle, a bunch of my spots would open up and be open for any where from a month to a few month, and then I would be bombarded with calls and fill all of my spots.

As far as becoming successful and opening up outside of the the home, that is my plan. I'm going to re-open my home daycare back in my home, get my name out there, etc and once it takes off, I plan to move to a commercial space, and start hiring staff.

This go round I am changing things up to set me apart from others. I am planning to only do pre-school. I am going to offer a rate for just those that want the pre-school aspect, and then another rate for those that want pre-school+care. I will be offering a preschool curriculum throughout the school year, and a more laid back approach during the summer months. I also am planning to get endorsed by the EHCC as an eco-friendly daycare, and want to offer organic foods.

No, you do not have to offer the lowest prices. To me that is setting yourself up to get clients you may not want. Maybe when you first open offer a "special" or some sort of discount to start getting people in the door, but I wouldn't do that long term. I think in this field you have to decide what you are worth. It will be hard to come to work everyday, working long hours, if you are not getting paid what you are worth. On the other hand you should look at the norm for your area and start there. Later on down the line, if you can make a good name for yourself, you can always up your prices as well.

Good luck, I hope this helped some!

[IndyJen]

Thanks for the response. I too thought about doing organic foods and catering to those with special dietary needs (e.g. vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, etc.). That does increase the costs though, although I think parents would pay for it. For me, the challenge is in the risk of it, which I know you can't remove. I don't have a space currently to open a daycare so I would have to invest in a home that could accomadate that which is a big risk if it doesn't work out. I'm also leaving steady, good income with benefits and I think my family would think I was crazy to take such a risk so I just have to think about it more and do my research. What I do know is that life is too short to work in a job you hate.

[Blackcat31]

My honest advice?

I wouldn't open a daycare in this economy. Families are resorting to using their own resources to save money and with all the legislative changes happening in the world of early childhood right now, family child care as we know it now will be non-existent in the upcoming years.

I venture to bet that within the next decade anyone caring for another person's child will be required to have at the VERY minimum a 2 year degree in early childhood and will have to follow so many rules and regulations that a majority of child care will be taken over by center run facilities.

Free pre-school is also something that will effect family child cares. Many states are offering this type of service for very little or no cost at all so there won't be many preschool age children needing child care.

I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer because you are so right about not working a job you hate but in my honest opinion, I don't think being a new child care provider now is anything like it was a decade or so ago and if I were a newbie looking into this field, I'd have changed my mind a nano-second knowing what I do now about the evolving world of daycare.

Just my 2 cents

[KnoxMom]

For the 1st time EVER, I have to say I completely disagree with Blackcat! . Because of the economy, many mothers are being forced to work which requires them to find child care. In my area the statistics show that there are more children needing care than there are providers available to offer care. I strongly encourage you to do more research in your area and see if there is truly a need for what you're trying to offer. Here is an article that gives some basic data by state: http://www.naccrra.org/sites/default...tsheetbook.pdf. As far as pricing, I had to assess that I needed to make $X/month to live at a standard I am comfortable with for my family, so I needed to charge $X/child to meet that standard, cover taxes and business expenses. Do not underprice the competition or your clientele will reflect that and it isn't worth it in the long run. I haven't been operating long, but I was able to fill up because (outside of prayer) I was willing to invest my time, my money and my energy on creating a program that would meet the needs of my community. I knew that before I could quit my job, I would need to have at least 2 contracts signed and ready to go to pay my bills. You'd be surprised how willing people are to sign up before you even start if you tour effectively and have your space together, a solid handbook and can demonstrate that you are knowledgeable and competent enough to provide a learning experience worth paying for. I think you will be successful if you truly commit to doing this; just be prepared for the ups and downs, try to have 3 months of expenses saved up in case you lose enrollment and take this time in between to start prepping and putting out feelers via craigslist, facebook, etc. to see if you can gain interest. It's cliche, but like they say failing to plan is planning to fail. If this is your dream-not a phase, not a fad, not a spur of the moment decision-I believe you will do well. I hope this helps!

[Blackcat31]

@Knoxmom...the fact sheet you linked says that there are currently 23,363,909 children under age 6 in the U.S.

15,060,140 of them have a parent(s) working

But ONLY 10,000,000 of those children are in some type of child care

Broken down

Center based care (including Head Start, Preschools and Nursery schools) 26%
Grand parents caring for them 21%
Other relative care 21%
Family Child Care 6%
Other Non-relative 8%

To me that says VERY few families use family child care arrangements.

The #1 complaint about child care is cost yet, family child care providers on average make $21,320 per year


This profession has been fantastic for me personally and I have made more money doing this than I could have doing pretty much anything else I wanted to do AND I was still able to care for and raise my own children without using child care myself but my point was that this field is changing and a lot of those changes will have a HUGE impact on family child care.

I honestly and truly believe that family child care will be NOTHING like we currently know it to be within the next decade.

It won't be as easy for someone who wishes to stay home and raise their own child and make a little income as a child care provider...it won't be one of those jobs that requires only a high school diploma and a couple hours of training. It will have so many restrictions and regulations that only centers and caregivers with a degree will be able to manage the costs of this upcoming overhaul.

FWIW~ It's ok to disagree...we all see the changes differently and each state seems to be implementing QRIS differently but I DO know that changes are a coming....

[KnoxMom]

Remember, they are only able to count licensed family day care homes. I'm pretty sure that 8% "other non-relative" consists of the unlicensed homes and SAHMs. So essentially we're looking at about 14% of 10,000,000 which is still 1,400,000. I personally am comfortable with those odds No matter how I do the math, there are always goint to be parents in need of child care. In the end, it is up to us to create quality programs that can compete with the centers. Now as far as the regulations and changes-I completely agree that things are evolving: such is life.

SN: I absolutely LOVE a good debate. That's the whole point of a good forum, right? ...to share knowledge, ideas and opinions. That's why I come here: to give advice and to gain some. I think we should always be willing and able to look at both sides of the issue. Thank you for sharing your perspective!

[KnoxMom]

Double posting.

[Blackcat31]

Remember, they are only able to count licensed family day care homes. I'm pretty sure that 8% "other non-relative" consists of the unlicensed homes and SAHMs. So essentially we're looking at about 14% of 10,000,000 which is still 1,400,000. I personally am comfortable with those odds :-D No matter how I do the math, there are always goint to be parents in need of child care. In the end, it is up to us to create quality programs that can compete with those centers. Now as far as the regulations and changes; I completely agree that things are evolving: such is life.

SN: I absolutely LOVE a good debate. That's the whole point of a good forum, right? ...to share knowledge, ideas and opinions. That's why I come here: to give advice and to gain some. I think we should always be willing and able to look at both sides of the issue. Thank you for sharing your perspective!

Totally agree about the debate part

I disagree about the "non relative" care though. I don't necessarily count them in OUR numbers... If they are unlicensed in my state, they can only watch one family's kids (NO limit on the # of kids, just families) and since they are unlicensed or just SAHM's making a few dollars but not really running an all out child care business, I don't see that as countable as "one of us".....kwim? (FWIW...I am NOT talking about LEGALLY unlicensed)

I also absolutely agree that there is always going to be a need for child care but I think the way in which mother's find/use care will be different.

In my area, we just got an increased number of spaces for our Invest Early programs (Like Head Start) and dozens of families are leaving family child care to attend these early learning facilities. Plus the new regulations and QRIS standards are "forcing" many current and long term providers out of business (there are always tons of posts about this on several forums) and with the shift in parenting now days, it seems providers have to be HIGHLY skilled in many areas in order to even manage this job.

The burn out rate has increased tenfold since I first opened and everyday there are stories that shed a bad or negative light on family child care.

I belong to a forum of mothers and the things most of them say about family child care is astounding.... more and more parents want video monitoring, the right to breastfeed with daily visits to the care facility, parents want special meals, no naps, extended hours, holiday care and the right to be the one in charge.....ALL things that create provider burnout and high stress levels.

The right to run our businesses as we chose to run them will no longer be an option in a few years. My state is currently undergoing "unionization" and that's a whole 'nother ballgame of stupidity but no one seems to care or even listen to the actual person doing this job....only the dollars and cents it could bring into our government/politicians.

It stopped being about the kids a long time ago. WE (as providers) may still put them first, but sadly we are the only ones keeping them at the top of the priority list.

*Ask me any of this on another day, and I "might" feel differently but I just recently attended a meeting about child care and the future of our children and did not leave a happy camper.
I am ashamed of every one of our state's legislators

[Laurel]

I have been struggling for years (ever since the housing/economy bust) with having enough children enrolled. No problems before that. I do it because I love it and have a husband so it is a second income for us.

I agree with Blackcat pretty much but I'm sure it does depend on your area.

I also have a home to do it in. I heard using your own home was a tax advantage. Not sure though.

It is feast or famine in this economy. I also know how it feels to be doing a job you don't like so I'm torn.

I guess just do your research and if there is a child care provider association go to a few meetings and talk with actual providers. You'll find out soon enough if they have all the children they want. They don't here.

Laurel

[KnoxMom]

In my area, we just got an increased number of spaces for our Invest Early programs (Like Head Start) and dozens of families are leaving family child care to attend these early learning facilities.

Really? In my area, you have to qualify for free or reduced lunch to even be eligible for free preschool and even then the spaces are limited. What ages are covered by Invest and don't they have an income cutoff?

[Blackcat31]

Really? In my area, you have to qualify for free or reduced lunch to even be eligible for free preschool and even then the spaces are limited. What ages are covered by Invest and don't they have an income cutoff?

We have 3-5 year old preschool (Head Start and Jump Start) as well as Early Start which serves the under 3 crowd.

There are income guidelines but they only have to have 70% of the children meet those guidelines....the other 30% of space can be filled with anyone of any income level.

The CCR&R program in my area also only refers or recommends providers who participate in the star rating system and even offers additional scholarship funding to families who use providers who participate in the QRIS program (biased much?) and those scholarships have income guidelines that WAAAAY different than the traditional state assistance program so even 2 income familiess with REALLY good jobs can qualify.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

It's extremely stressful when you are in a dry spell in this business. BlackCat's posts have truly alarmed me, and several of the things she described have been discussed on this board before. I suggest looking for the threads and reading them.

[daycarediva]

It's extremely stressful when you are in a dry spell in this business. BlackCat's posts have truly alarmed me, and several of the things she described have been discussed on this board before. I suggest looking for the threads and reading them.

Yes, it is very scary.

I am the bread winner in our family. I NEED 4 full time kids to pay my basic minimum bills/food. I NEED 5 kids to pay our health insurance premium.

We don't live lavishly by any means.

I have an associates in early childhood education, and I am at capacity, and have been for 2 years now, by the skin of my teeth. It's pretty much all from word of mouth.

In my area licensed family homes are closing due to lack of enrollment, and new centers are popping up that offer sliding fee scales (right down to free) for ANY age child. I have only been in this business for 7 years, and I LOVE it, plan to do it until I retire BUT that's 30 years away, and right now it's a scary time to be a provider here.

[Moppetland]

I have worked in the corporate world myself in advertising, and I wasn't fulfilled. I've always wanted my own home child care. I quit and was always full. Then after 3.5 years, I decided to close to give myself a break and to also renovate my basement for bigger space of my day care.

While renovating, I took a substitute job at a preschool as a Assistant Teacher. At first, I thought that I would just give up my child care altogether and just work in the preschool center while I finished my education. But I missed my business for lots of reasons.

Here in my state, we get a lot of incentives for accepting CCAP (child care assistant program) families. I'm constantly adding to my credentials because I WANT to be known as a quality child care provider like I was before. I agree with BlackCat. There will be more requested of us home child care providers in the future and I'm okay with that. I think that the reason why a lot of home child cares will leave in the future is because there will be a lot of providers who just don't want to go through the new regulations in order to stay open. The day care centers are also going through changes too, so why not the home providers?

There are a lot of families needing child care, and it does depend on what you offer in your program. So it's important to keep up and be competitive. My parents were sad that I closed. But when I open again, I have a whole new idea and motivation. So, follow your heart. You only have one chance to do this thing called LIFE, and I would want to do what I love. The rest will take care of itself if you believe.